Sat-ND, 17.03.98

Sat-ND, 17.03.98Conventional
wisdom and such ;-)

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personal use. It may be used and redistributed for non-commercial
purposes only, provided the following notice is included: Copyright
1998, Peter C Klanowski

LAUNCHES

DirecTV for the bold global
peace-keeping force of the U.S.

An Atlas 2 rocket has launched a U.S. Navy communications
satellite that will relay spy photos and intelligence reports and
strike orders to U.S. troops all over the world. [One of my readers
might call it 'conventional wisdom' to ask why there are U.S. troops
all over the world, so I won't ask.]

The 3.2-tonnes satellite, built by Hughes Space and
Communications, will be moved to a geostationary orbit to serve the
Pacific Ocean region and is expected to be operational by June.

The ultrahigh-frequency satellite is the eighth in a series of ten
(according to AP) or the first of three (said my favourite news
agency.) Actually, it is the eighth in the Ultra-High Frequency
Follow-On series (UFO, cf. Sat-ND, 10.3.98) and first in the fleet to
have a Global Broadcast Service (GBS) communications system that will
speed up the transmission of data to U.S. military forces equipped
with small receiving terminals. The GBS technology is based on the
same technology that enables commercial companies, Hughes included,
to deliver satellite television programming directly to homes [hmm...
dual use... military-industrial complex... okay, just more
conventional wisdom.]

The Pentagon is paying Hughes US$150 million to outfit three Navy
communications satellites with GBS payloads. The next two satellites,
which are slated to blast off from Cape Canaveral this fall and next
spring, will operate above the Atlantic and Indian oceans,
respectively.

Loral
inks China launch deal

U.S. company Loral Space & Communications Ltd signed a
long-term satellite launching services agreement with China's Great
Wall Industry Corp. [Conventional wisdom tells us that China,
according to Western values, is a country not only ruled by dictators
but also in possession of mass-destruction weapons. Hmm... sounds
familiar.]

The deal was widely seen as a vote of confidence for the rather
ill-fated Chinese launcher Chang Zheng (Long March,) but as a matter
of fact the contract calls for just five launches for Loral between
March 1998 and March 2002 on the Chang Zheng 3B, the most powerful
Chinese launcher.

"The overall design has received verification, the technology
is mature and the rocket has already become the main force in the
Long March series," said news agency Xinhua.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but experience from the past
shows that China offers launches for up to 50 percent less than
Western competitors.

Useless fact: Methane gas can often be seen
bubbling up from the bottom of ponds. It is produced by the
decomposition of dead plants and animals in the mud.

Russia
wants more satellite launches

Conventional wisdom tells us that in a free market economy
everybody can offer whatever services he or she wants to offer.
Unfortunately, that does not apply to Russia which is bound by a
agreement with the U.S. to offer only a limited number of commercial
satellite launches.

Russia intends to increase the number of commercial launchings of
foreign satellites from 23 to 32 in the period until the year 2000
and then demand that any quota allotted to Russia be abolished, the
director of the Russian Space Agency Yuri Koptev was quoted as saying
by news agency Itar-Tass.

He said that this was the goal Russia will press ahead at the next
session of the Gore-Chernomyrdin commission scheduled for next
summer.

"We shall press ahead for an increase in the number of
apportioned quotas. Russia has to win the right to carry out 30-32
commercial launchings instead of 23 authorised now," Koptev
said. "In the next stage, quoting commercial launchings after
the year 2000 should be totally abolished."

Koptev refused any linkage of Russia's commercial satellite launch
efforts to the country's business in Iran (Sat-ND, 10.3.98.) Although
not directly linked to commercial satellite launches, the U.S. have
reportedly put the construction of a nuclear power station in
Bushehr, Iran, on the agenda which they fear might trigger
proliferation of military nuclear technologies.

Useless fact: The far side of the moon was first
photographed by a Russian satellite in 1959.

Watch
out for falling rockets

The Japanese cabinet approved a bill that paves the way for
state compensation for damage resulting from failed rocket launches
by the National Space Development Agency of Japan (NASDA) under
contract with private businesses.

Currently, NASDA is insured for up to ¥20 billion in damage
during H-2 rocket launches, the government pays for damage beyond
that amount -- but not for damage caused by commercial launches.

The legislation aims to revise current law so that the government
can pay partial compensation for damage resulting from accidents,
such as a rocket colliding with an aeroplane or falling onto a
private house. The bill would

and ban NASDA from launching rockets for commercial purposes
without insurance contracts.

However, there's only one case known in the history of commercial
satellite launches where compensation was paid not only to the
operator of a lost satellite. That was, of course, the Chinese
Intelsat-708 massacre in February 1996 where, according to official
figures, six people got killed and some 60 were injured. The victims
reportedly received a compensation totalling US$1.7 million.

SATELLITES

Kakehashi
lifted

The engine was fired for 90 seconds, resulting in an increase of
perigee from 250 to 390 kilometers. The apogee stayed at 1,860 km.
Until May, there are seven more similar manoeuvres planned, bringing
Kakehashi into a 500 by 17,700 km orbit.

Kakehashi failed to enter geostationary orbit after the second
stage of the H-2 rocket carrying failed after its launch last
February.

Iridium's
own code

Want to call Iridium?

The Motorola-led consortium has been assigned a country code by
the International Telecommunications Union, giving it national status
in the telecommunications industry: +8816. The low-Earth orbit
satellite system is expected to become operational by September.

Useless fact: Around The World there are 460
million cars and 800 million bicycles.

BUSINESS

Inmarsat
to go commercial

Inmarsat, the international mobile telecommunications satellite
organisation, said it had reached agreement on restructuring into a
commercial concern and subsequent privatisation (see also Sat-ND,
14.3.98.)

London-based Inmarsat said its governing council last week agreed
plans which should see the restructuring completed by the start of
1999 with an initial public share offer in a further two years.

A full package including amendments to Inmarsat's convention and
operating agreement, along with other documentation on the structure
and framework of the implementation schedule, will be presented to
the Inmarsat Assembly of Parties next month for review and adoption.

RUPERTWATCH

by Dr Sarmaz

EU
commission to rule on BIB

The European Commission will soon rule on British Interactive
Broadcasting (BIB), a joint venture partly owned by Keith Rupert
Murdoch's BSkyB and British Telecommunications (BT,) the largest
pay-TV operator and telecommunications company in Britain
respectively.

A EU Commission official said on Monday that "there will be a
decision in a couple of weeks." He added that it was not sure at
this stage whether the deal would be cleared under European antitrust
rules. "The parties still have to come back on the questions
we've asked them in February."

Among the questions raised by the EU commission, acting as the
Union's antitrust watchdog, are issues such as the subsidisation of
BIB's set-top decoder. It would benefit a separate digital TV
platform to be launched by BSkyB, thus giving it an unfair advantage.
Another problem is that BT would have no incentive to upgrade its
terrestrial phone network as the interactive services will be
delivered mainly by satellite. The upgrading of BT's network,
however, is seen as essential to allow other companies to offer
competing services.

Useless fact: Spread out, the walls of the human
intestines would cover an area of about one hundred square meters.

FEEDBACK

The
Bashing Booth

As to the alleged American bashing in this so-called newsletter
is concerned, I received one comment so far. Hine Clayton B. writes:

"Actually, until I saw you email address, it didn't occur
to me that you weren't based in the US, and it certainly never
occurred to me that you were American bashing. I read a very positive
article in a local paper about GoreSat last weekend and was wondering
what I was missing. Pretty pictures of the Earth with an attractive
backdrop seems to be something that should be way down on our wish
list."

Especially when they are adorned with McDonald's ad banners, I'd
like to add. I can have those without GoreSat anyway ;-)

I should mention that I got Mike (who complained about American
bashing initially) rather wrong in the first place. He also wrote,
and I admit to have omitted that in the last issue, that

"In my mind, bashing big targets [such as the US of A, I
guess, or rather its government -- Ed.] is like being a devotee of
conventional wisdom, which when espoused, sounds good but usually is
off the mark. I think they call that sophistic rhetoric. Conventional
wisdom, like big target bashing, is a clear indication to perceptive
people that not a lot of thinking is going on in the brain of the
person talking."

I guess that was his point. So much for my brain anyway, or what's
left of it after all these years ;-) I know from his e-mail that he
does mean in it the nicest possible way. Hey, no irony!

Anyway, I have over the past few days received some very
encouraging e-mails -- maybe as a reaction to that issue or to my
weekend posting of the Sat-ND housekeeping notes. Thank you very
much; I may not be able to answer each and every message.

But don't get me wrong: I really, and once more there's no irony
whatsoever involved, have every respect for anybody who unsubscribes
because he or she doesn't like my style. I'd have no problems at all
with going out for a beer with anybody who criticises Sat-ND
or even unsubscribes.

What I don't need, actually, are those bloody lamerz who have [as
could be expected] started once again to send me "unsubscribe"
or even "subscribe" messages. All of those are as usually
cheerfully ignored, of course.